From the Greenies Cruising on the Coral Princess

Although we don’t have the free internet that we used to get, I am still doing a travel blog, though most of it may well be centred on life aboard.  Uploads may be a bit erratic as and when we do manage internet access.

 

New Blog:  2022 on the Coral Princess (222coralprincess.blogspot.com)

Ray & Paula

June 3rd - A free day - and lots of walking

Oh the joys of older converted wooden buildings.  Not a very good sleep (probably too much good food yesterday) but our new room on level 2 obviously meant there was someone in the room above – and boy, did we know about it.  Have you noticed that young children who are up and running around before 6am never run on tip-toes?  They always crash around on their heels – and so full of beans after a night’s sleep, they are full on for at least an hour or two, non-stop.

We crawled out of bed as sleep was impossible and opted today for the over-priced continental breakfast.

It was rather wet and miserable outside, so we tried our best to get $28 worth of value out of the food – which wasn’t easy – though quite a reasonable selection, with fresh Danish pastries and an excellent selection of cereals or muesli concoctions, ham, smoked salmon, cheese etc.  The coffee cup was small so I opted for the takeaway cup, which isn’t very classy, but when it comes to a satisfying drink, volume is one critical element. 

We grabbed a courtesy umbrella out of the room (a nice touch) and set off for Darling Harbour.  Thankfully, the rain stopped almost immediately and we even saw a glimpse of the sun.

It is a pleasant enough walk but there is  a phenomenal amount of building work going on, including a station for the light rail system.  This inevitably means zig-zagging around the works.

First stop is Barangaroo which is where we boarded the Dawn Princess back in 2011.  The smaller ships now cruise from either Circular Quay or more often than not, White Bay, which is a bit isolated, as the Darling Harbour/Barangaroo area is so much more convenient if stopping in town the night before.

We walked past All Hands Brewery, where the pre-cruise meet is scheduled for tomorrow night and right to the inner end of Darling Harbour and to Harbourside, a shopping Mall we seem to frequent on every Sydney visit.  It seems that we nearly always grab a slice of pizza too, but sitting just outside, the pigeons are a pest, possibly having trained at St Ives in the UK.  They tend to swoop down from behind and try to grab whatever food you happen to have in your hand at the time – and they obviously like pizza.  We were ready this time…

Just under the Pyrmont bridge, there was a great school big band playing.  You have to hand it to modern music teachers.  I think they knock spots off those who tried to teach us.

Heading back, Paula was just too weary to walk the whole way, so we hopped on a ferry from Wharf 2, ($7.10) back to Circular Quay. A pleasant 12 minute ride via the Luna Park entrance wharf.

Back at the hotel, we opted to relax.
As the Kerrigan (the food truck) seemed to be good value and nice food,  it was a burger and fries for me and Paula managed a mug of pumpkin soup with some very interesting chia bread.

Tomorrow, friends arrive and we also have the pre-cruise catch up.  Really looking forward to both.

 

Lunch and laughs - June 2nd

Not a very good night’s sleep!  Normal for a change of bed.  We managed a decent shower, though quite what the point is of the rear of the shower being glass, then visible if the wardrobe door is open to one side, is anyone’s guess.

As Dave and Sandie were picking us up at 10:45am to take us out to lunch, all we wanted at about 9am was a drink and toast.  The hotel had other ideas. It was either a full breakfast at $38AUD - each, or a continental at $28 – each.  As it was a Saturday (meaning busy, with wedding guests etc.) no a la carte.  We didn’t want a continental and there is no hotel coffee shop or snack bar but the restaurant duty manager (presumably) relented as we were staying for 5 nights.  Even so, a bill of $29AUD for two hot drinks and two lots of toast was a bit steep, especially as the largest coffee cup they could muster was a small tea cup.

Dave and Sandie were on time to take us to Jo and Garry’s for lunch at Rouse Hill.  They have moved into a new flat since our last visit. A quick call into a bottle shop for some liquids, before battling the security systems at the flats complex.  I bet it keeps the door knockers away…

Great to catch up with Jo and Garry but Colin and Judy were really surprised to see us!  A very nice lunch that lasted until darkness with the usual load of laughs and reminiscences.

Back at Pier One, we’d been moved and our new room was on level two, complete with a tiny balcony and an opening door.  Much, much better.  A busy Saturday night at the hotel which appeared to be full.  Just below us on level 1, where there was an extended deck, they were setting up for a wedding, with 100’s of roses, lights and so on. 

For the evening, we opted for the food truck - again.  After Sandie and Dave’s waffles with caramel sauce and ice cream, we weren’t exactly ravenous, so we just had the pulled beef tacos between us and a hot drink in the room.

Back in the room and a card shoved under the door from Giuliano, hoping that our new room was OK.  Great staff!

A short walk past the Harbour Bridge to watch the Vivid lights, but it was getting decidedly chilly, so we weren’t out too long.

Tomorrow we have nothing planned so will see what the weather has in store for us.  The HoHo bus in Sydney is totally open topped (Brown Bus) so if it is hot, you get scorched and if it is raining, you get wet.  For those who are interested $55 for 24 hours.

June 1st - A surprise trip - for some.

Having had to cancel our Hawaiian trip last October (and a long battle with the insurance company, to get compensation - the Insurance Ombudsman eventually ruled in our favour), we decided that it might be a good idea for Paula to try a short  flight.  Australia being the most logical destination.

Eschewing our usual 365 day travel insurance policy, for obvious reasons, doing it through our credit card attracted a $150 levy for a 5 day trip to Sydney and we decided it was worth the risk..

We timed it to catch up with two couples of cruiser friends, a few days before they set off on their World Cruise on the Sea Princess – the one we had to cancel.
 

As it was a short trip, it was more economical and more convenient to leave the car at Auckland airport, rather than the usual shuttle. Booked on line, we merely had to tap the credit card on the reader at the car park entrance and into car park A.

Check in was a doddle using the self-check-in kiosks, then dumping the tagged luggage onto the conveyor.  All so very easy these days.  No longer do we have to put up with a slow shuffling queue.  Slap the passport in the reader, press a few buttons and out comes your bag tag and the boarding pass.  Easy.
Hand luggage scanning was also a doddle; a well organised queue with plenty of scanners and staff.  Although we were flying cattle class, we had passes for the Air NZ lounge, so naturally enough, we headed straight there.  It was almost full!

Coffee ordering can be done on line (via your phone - what can’t these days…) or you punch your order into a touch screen and it gives you a time when your coffee should be ready.  I had to wait a while.

They also had a chef doing eggs Benedict to order but I opted for poached eggs and did my own toast.  Very nice too.
It always amazes me that some of the lounge guests are on the beer at 7:30am.  We’d applied for upgrades and when we approached the boarding gate, we were ushered to one side, but unfortunately, although they’d given us the upgrade, we’d been split.  So after some fluffing around, we were eventually put back in our original seats!

 

SYDNEY – June 1st

The flight was about 25 minutes late leaving and late into Sydney, but we were through Sydney’s smart gate in no time at all –which just meant a bit of a wait for the luggage!

We opted for a taxi to the Pier One Hotel just alongside the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The total taxi bill with the $5 toll, was about $65.  A bit more than a shuttle van, but no Tiki Tours and direct to the hotel through Sydney's ever busy traffic.

The only reason we opted for this Marriott Hotel was because Jo and Garry had booked for the night before the cruise, using up American Express points - and they'd only booked because Mal & Marie had, otherwise we would have stayed at the Ibis at Darling harbour. 

Wow!  What a welcome!  The lovely Doori had hardly started to check us in, when one of the other staff appeared with a glass of bubby each.  That is a welcome we have never ever had before, anywhere.

This was 11am Sydney time (1pm NZ time) and as our room wouldn’t be ready for a couple of hours, we dumped our luggage and walked through to the pier and settled into one of the comfortable ‘igloos’, hiding from the chill, but we placed a food order for the caravan parked out there.  We ordered the pulled beef tacos (3) at $19 and a ham and cheese toasted jaffle ($14).  When we were growing up, we had a waffle iron, which worked on the same principle – now a fancy name for a toasted sandwich.

The tacos were absolutely delicious - Paula had 1 and I had 2 of course. But the jaffle was a double portion anyway, so 4 large jaffles with ham off the bone and delicious gooey cheese!  Perfect.  As we sat there, what was the Dawn Princess cruised past.  Now renamed the Pacific Explorer.

We then opted for a walk towards Circular Quay and I turned to see a smiling lady, who I recognised immediately.   I told her she looked familiar and was she one of our cruisers?

“No”, she said, “I’m Maggie Beer”… (For non-Aussies or Kiwis, Maggie is a very well-known TV cook and probably on a par with the UK’s Mary Berry.)

Anyway, despite a chill breeze, we walked a while then turned to return to the hotel, spotting another TV chef whose name I can’t remember. Then walking past our hotel were our neighbours - Ngaire and Dennis, who are the only couple in the street who have been there longer than us.   Small world.

Back at reception and we were invited to help ourselves to the large chocolate dipped strawberries!

 

Our room was almost ready and Guiliano took our cases up but when we walked in, we weren’t exactly thrilled with the room. Top floor (level 3) and although waterside, so far down the pier towards the land end, that the view out was much worse than we expected, not helped by the overhanging beams So, back to reception and Doori, without batting an eyelid, arranged for a move further out towards the end of the pier.  Sadly, we weren’t too thrilled with that one either.  No opening window and still the overhang, but we merely expressed our disappointment to Giuliano – who has only been working there 4 days.

Half an hour later, a call from reception to say that they were sorry we still didn’t think too much of the room and that they’d move us tomorrow if that was OK.  They told us to leave our luggage and they’d move it whilst we were out. Excellent.

We opted for the food truck again, with pumpkin soup for Paula and a good meaty burger for me then a stroll back towards Circular Quay to check out ‘Vivid’, when Sydney lights up the bridge and harbour.  It was a bit cool.

Then, feeling tired, we just relaxed in our room.  Within minutes,  a knock on the door, and they brought a complimentary bottle of red wine and 3 delicious chocolates.

We were certainly amazed at the staff attitude and consideration.  Let’s hope the rest of this short break is as good. Tomorrow, we catch up with cruiser friends for lunch - the only two couples who knew we were coming over.  How long would that last?

All change for 2018

About 18 months ago, Princess released details of their 2018 World Cruise on the Sea Princess. Within days (or so it seems) the cruise was booked out and there was a veritable flurry of communications between regulars, travel agents and Princess Cruises.

For the first time since Princess started these annual World Cruises kiwi residents could embark and disembark in Auckland, instead of having to fly to Sydney.  We managed to book our favourite cabin (sorry, stateroom), and within hours, the Cruise Critic Roll Call/message-board was loaded with cruisers we’d known since 2011 and later, so we knew we were in for a great cruise with great people.

As the months passed, the Roll Call grew and grew and I was happy enough maintaining it, with an expectation that this was going to be the best cruise since our first in 2011.  As it grew, we knew without any doubt, that our circle of friends would be even bigger by the end of the cruise.

If you flip through to my 2017 blog (on the right) you will know that we had a successful trip to the UK for Paula’s Pro Am dance competition, then 4 weeks on the Crown Princess, before heading back to a distinctly chilly Auckland.

 

Two weeks later, Paula was in hospital, as a blood test showed she’d had a heart attack and then she had a stent fitted.

This meant we had to cancel a planned dance competition in Hawaii but worst of all, we had to cancel the World Cruise, as within 12 months, Paula is still classed as high risk until such times as she get a clearance from the surgeon, which won’t be until late July.

So, all plans out of the window for a while.

All is not lost though, (for me anyway) as I’ll get to the UK for another trip to the Goodwood Revival race meeting, arguably the world’s best weekend for pre 1966 classic car racing.

I'll be back just in time for the Sea Princess's arrival September 16th. 

Hopefully, after July, we can look to the future with more travel and at the moment, if all goes well, maybe a river cruise in 2019?  Budapest to Amsterdam with Avalon anyone? We may even manage a hop to Queensland later in the year.

But, plans do change, so pop in here now and again, later in the year.